Cardinal starting to show flashes of tourney form

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, January 31, 1999

STANFORD - Halfway through the Pac-10 season, the Stanford women's basketball team appears to be positioning itself for another tournament run.

But if that's true, it's going to have to pay attention for a whole game - not just half a one.

Stanford pushed its overall record to 11-9 and its conference mark to a healthly 7-2 Saturday night with a 73-58 win over Arizona State before a crowd of 4,422 at Maples Pavilion.

But until the Cardinal finally decided they wanted to get going midway through the second half, the Sun Devils (8-10, 2-7) gave them an unexpected argument.

And that was despite the fact that Arizona State head coach Charli Turner Thorne was back home in Tempe, awaiting the birth of her first child, and starting guard Kitch Kitchen had been sent home Friday for breaking a team rule.

"Arizona State came out very aggressive," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "I don't know how we could ever (afford to) do it, but I guess we looked at their record or something and it was like we were just going through the motions."

The Sun Devils, who were ahead 9-3 in the first half and down only nine points at halftime, trailed by just five with 14 minutes to play.

But then, finally, Stanford shifted into the high gear - both offensively and defensively - it will need if it's going to make the NCAA Tournament and do some damage when it gets there.

But opportunistic freshman Enjoli Izidor, getting a chance to play this week because starting forward Sarah Dimson was sidelined with a foot injury, made a huge impression for the second game in a row.

This time, she had a double-double, 12 points and 13 rebounds.

"She's creating quite a dilemma for me," VanDerveer said.

"It definitely feels good being able to contribute," said Izidor, "and not just sit on the bench. Toward the beginning of the season, I got really discouraged, but the coaches told me to just stick with it."

"I like givens," VanDerveer said, "like knowing what I'm going to have when I go into a game. But this year, I'm kind of wondering every night which players are going to hurt the other team."

Sun Devils assistant coach Mark Lewis, who filled in for Taylor Thorne, said, "Stanford is a very much improving team. You can just see the progress and the maturity, and it's certainly not a surprise to anyone who knows the game."

Arizona State was led by forward Leaf Newman, who had 20 points, including three 3-pointers.

But it was clear the Sun Devils' talent fell far short of the Cardinal's.

Despite her reservations about their early play, and its ever-shifting makeup, VanDerveer is impressed with what it can do when it buckles down.

"If we keep on doing what we're doing, I think we're a tournament team," she said. "But we need more concentration, regardless of the competition. We don't seem to have that "hammer' mentality."

Flores, sitting next to VanDerveer in the interview room, quickly added one word. "Yet," she said.&lt;